Pear harvest in Italy very poor this year

Rome: At the end of August/beginning of September, Cavalleri Ettore at Munich Wholesale Market usually receives the first pears from Italy, but local weather conditions caused significant failures.

“The pear harvest in Italy was very poor this year, which is why we already purchase goods from Spain. We still receive about one to two pallets a week from Italy, for example of the Kaiser Alexander and Santa Maria varieties. However, we get other varieties such as Abate, Bartlett, red and green Williams from Spain,” says Gianluca Rapalli.

“The spring in Italy was so cold that the flowering in spring was affected. In summer, the heat on the one hand and the storm in July/August on the other hand caused a huge loss in the harvest. As a result, there were very few, if any, pears from Italy this year. The price level as well as the demand are quite high because there is a lack of qualitatively appealing goods,” says Rapalli. However, there have also been challenges with the weather in Spain this year.

“Our supplier has announced that if the Italian and Spanish ones run out, he would source Conference pears from the Netherlands. What we have available every year are Decana pears, which we also receive via the Netherlands. But this variety also makes up only a small proportion of our range.” The company sources overseas produce accordingly with the start of the season in spring.

“We will continue to work with what is available to us. There are bad years, but there are also good years. Despite the crises, we will not turn our entire assortment upside down. In fact, we will add a few more products,” says the wholesale trader. “The business year has been fine so far. But the crisis did make itself felt; after all, purchasing power is no longer as it was before the crises. But so far it has been good.”

The mood at the wholesale market is relatively subdued at the moment. “On the day before All Saints’ Day, it is extremely quiet at the wholesale market. You can’t even tell which days are going well and which are not. In the past, Monday and Thursday were the strongest days. Now it’s sometimes a Monday or a Tuesday, etc. But good days can no longer be stated with certainty.”